Thank you Jan Böhmermann! The German comedian is now being threatened with prosecution. That has Turkish President and wannabe sultan, notorious Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, demanded. Böhmermann had made clear, in sort of poem which was broadcast in his late-night show (largely hidden in an offshoot of Germany’s second public service television broadcaster ZDF and immediately removed from the internet) what is allowed under German law, namely all kinds of satire, and what is not, namely blatant revile, or schmähkritik, in particular of a foreign government representative. So, after all and, in particular, under German law (based on rather obscure §103 of Germany’s legal code), it is not satire to call Erdogan, for instance, homosexual, a pedophile or a zoophile. Probably with a tiny dick. All that is not allowed.

But the real satire is that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who seems to get completely confused of all her recent turns,  has stepped in, in a telephone call with Turkish Prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, and called the poem in a hurry and quite obedient “intentionally transgressing”.

Well, enlightenment has always been transgressing.

12 April 2016 @ 9:10 am.

Last modified April 15, 2016.